Keith Green (a musical evangelist of the late 70's/early 80's once said the reason we have welfare in our country is beause the church was not doing what it is responsible to do. Our government has invaded areas the Bible says Christians are responsible for. The US Constitution talks about promoting the general welfare. If you look up the word welfare you can see where employers are to be paying a fair wage instead of stepping on the backs of the poor. People like that have their reward. The Bible talks about taking care of those in need. Yet today churches send people to the welfare office instead. So, before we go any further we need to accept responsibility for the situation. If everyone who claimed to be a Christian actually loved their neighbor as themselves there really would be no welfare in this country.

With that said the government is a reflection of our society. As I've posted before, if you don't like what you see in the mirror...change what's in front of it. We ARE the government. As Christians we have the responsibility to be involved in our government. The government isn't a we/them situation...it's an us situation. Stand up for what is right and get involved in EVERY area of our democratic republic.

"Phileo and schemeroo - are you Christians?"

Why is that, should Christians ensure Christ is not at the center of our solutions and push for big government to solve our problems?

Should Christians make intellectually dishonest statements like abortion is wrong, but it should be legal? Why is it wrong again?

Are Christians only leftists - do these crazy religious right folks not care about the poor or oppressed?

As Christians, is the strength of our families derived only from how good our job is and whether we have healthcare?

Probably doing the same thing they've been doing to mainline Protestant denominations...

I think of myself as left, right and in-between. I believe that society will be best served if we all embrace Christian morals and honor Christian values as the cornerstone of secular law. I also think the we should be compassionate, treating other people as we would want to be treated. Why do we let secular politicians label us as left or right. Our focus should be on serving God, not serving a particular political agenda.

Phileo - It's not up to you to hold a debate with any progressive Christians. If I were you, I would be more concerned with Christ's teachings than with right-wing politics.

Phileo and schemeroo - are you Christians?

Being "Progressive" and/or "Liberal" and Christian are oxymorons. How can you honestly be pro-choice and Christian? While I certainly welcome the opportunity to dialogue in an intelligent and rational way, I'm not getting warm fuzzies from the left side of the aisle in that regard. Especially when you see lesbians infringing on the free speech rights of a paid speaker at Smith College in Massachusetts. Liberals will have to show me some semblance of respect for our ideals and biblical truth before I consider trying to hold a debate with them.

If I didn't know better,I'd say the whole concept of the "religious left" sounds like leftist liberals who have donned a "religious" cap as part of a an overall strategy to further their agenda. Its given away by this statement:

“Life and family aren’t going away as essential and important concerns, but the way we think about them is going to change,” Korzen predicted. “And we can’t have strong families in this country if people don’t have jobs and healthcare"

This is another way of repeating the same old tired leftist idea that the government ultimately controls everything, even your family life.